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Text File | 1994-02-15 | 27KB | 519 lines

=============================================================================== Robert Burke Presents ===================== 3DWorld Voyageur IV and 3D Ping Pong ============================== February 15, 1994 Release 1.2 =============================================================================== Welcome to 3DWorld v1.2! This document contains everything you'll ever need to know about 3DWorld. If you just plan on scanning it and playing the game, read the section "Quick Start Guide." It's just what you'll need to know to get playing. However, if you want to get the most enjoyment out of 3DWorld, I recommend you read the majority of the document. If you're reading this document via the README.BAT file, it would likely be easier to use a text viewer like EDIT, found in DOS 5 and 6. Type CTRL-BREAK now and from the DOS prompt type EDIT 3DWORLD.DOC if you want to view the document that way. Files included with 3DWorld: The following files must all be included with 3DWorld for shareware distribution, and all are vital to its proper operation: File Description ============================================================== README.BAT Batch file to read off this file FILE_ID.DIZ Description of 3DWorld 3DWORLD.ICO Windows Icon file for 3DWorld 3DWORLD.DT3 Resource file for 3DWorld 3DWORLD.DT2 Resource file for 3DWorld 3DWORLD.DT1 Resource file for 3DWorld 3DWORLD.DT0 Resource file for 3DWorld 3DWORLD.DOC This file 3DWORLD.EXE A legend in the making 3DWorld may NOT be distributed without ALL of these files present. To work properly, they should all be accessible to 3DWorld.EXE (in the current directory or the path). Installing 3DWorld: It's quick and easy. Type INSTALL and follow the instructions onscreen. Accept the defaults if you'd like, or change them using the arrow keys. You only need to install the game once. Quick start guide: If you just downloaded the game, don't want to read the documentation, aren't worried about advanced features and just want to PLAY, here's the rundown (and I know how you feel!): 3DWorld is controlled completely by the mouse. Type 3DWORLD to start the game, and following that you'll never NEED to use the keyboard again. Playing Voyageur IV, move the mouse to control your ship; the mouse buttons control your left and right lasers (no, your ammunition is not limited!). For 3D Ping Pong, the mouse controls your paddle, and the left and right buttons allow you to deflect the ball on an angle. The longer you hold down the mouse button on the serve, the harder your paddle will hit the ball. Press any key while playing if you want to exit early. There are many more controls and features to the game, but this should be enough to get you started. A final suggestion: run the "Introduction" program from the main menu before you venture forth into Voyageur IV, it will help you get used to the ship's targeting system. OK, go play now. But there's LOTS more to read in this file if you get confused, bored, or if you finish every other book in the house (including your DOS manual). Overview: After over six months of programming, 3DWorld v1.0 was finally ready for release. It has changed greatly in recent revisions; a new menu system has been implemented, the graphics are smoother, crisper, and BIGGER, and the sound effects have been improved. It has not at all what I originally envisioned, but it still has the "feel" that I wanted to achieve with my original game. It is my hope that you will both enjoy this game and distribute it, so others may enjoy it as well. 3DWorld was written in a hybrid of C and C++, and compiled using Turbo C++ 3.0. Although the code at first leaned towards C, by its completion it was primarily an object-oriented (C++) application. Version 1.2 contains some 10,300 lines of my own code, including TunnelVISION and TAppBase 3.0, the object-oriented menu system. All told, over 60,800 lines of code are linked into the game. Shareware notice and Registration information =============================================== 3DWorld is now yours for the low, low price of absolutely nothing. But, if you like this game, and you'd like me to continue to improve my skills and produce even BETTER games and applications to put out as Shareware, please remember to register your copy of 3DWorld. A mere $5 to $15 is all I'm asking (anything more would be awesome!). For your registration, you'll receive happiness and good karma, any new versions of 3DWorld and also a copy of a shareware release I plan to produce in the very near future. If you would like a personalized, registered version of 3DWorld, please send at least $10, and specify disk size and density. As you may know if you have completed this game, there is a distinct possibility that a sequel will be (or has been!) produced. I will be sure to send you a full, personalized copy of the sequel when and if I produce it. In the works is an "edu-tainment" add-on for 3DWorld, as well as a shoot-'em-up-for-points melee. Remeber to be sure to include a return address! Please send any donations or comments to: Robert Burke 221 Carlton Road Unionville, Ontario L3R 3M2 (Canada) Thanks in advance for your support! System Requirements and Compatibility ======================================= Computer Speed: Although 3DWorld will work on any IBM-Compatible system, I wound not recommend playing it on any computer slower than a 386DX-33. 3D PingPong is optimized on a 386DX-33, while Voyageur IV looks its "best" on a 486. On slower computers, changing the "Game Speed" option in the Options menu to "Fast" or "Warp" will significantly speed up play. Display: 3DWorld was designed and tested on VGA screens. Theoretically, it may also work on high-end EGA systems. CGA is definitely out. Mouse: The only "accessory" you need to play 3DWorld is a two- or three-button mouse. You must have a mouse driver loaded before running 3DWorld. The game underwent rigorous testing with several drivers and all seem to work fine, although some take more time than others when changing between modes. If there is about a two-second delay when entering a game from the main menu, this is the reason. Compatibility notes - IMPORTANT: 3DWorld has been tested with several memory managers and system configurations. A small bug in v1.0 made it incompatible with newer versions of certain memory managers; there should be no problems now! I'd really like to hear from anyone who has ANY problem with the game on their system, although with v1.2 this isn't likely to occur. Disclaimer ============ Although I have NO idea what possibly could happen wrong in conjunction with using 3DWorld, the author accepts no responsibility for any damage done in any form to equipment or data caused by, together with or from the use of the program distributed with these files. This program has been tested to be error-free. This program is provided "as-is". No warranties of any kind, express or implied, are made as to it or any medium it may be on. I will provide no remedy for indirect, consequential, punitive or incidental damages arising from it, including such from negligence, strict liability, or breach of warranty or contract, even after notice of the possibility of such damages. By the way, although I scanned the file with the latest virus scanners before releasing it, and no virii were detected, you can never be too safe. Enough boring stuff. Controlling the mouse in the menus ==================================== The controls used for 3DWorld are very easy to learn and use. Use the mouse to select items by pressing the left button. The right button is not used. Use the "Options" button to access the Options Menu, where you will have the opportunity to change several settings: Game speed: Adjusts the speed of both 3D Ping Pong and Voyageur IV. Voyageur IV Difficulty: Adjusts the difficulty level of (you guessed it) Voyageur IV. Number of Stars: Toggles the number of stars shown in Voyageur IV. Change this to suit your personal preferences. On slower computers, choosing "A Few" will speed up gameplay. Explain points: Toggles whether 3D Ping Pong explains why each point was scored. Ping Pong points to win: Changes the number of points necessary to win a game of 3D Ping Pong. To exit the game from the main menu, simply press the "EXIT" button. Back to reality. The Practice Games ==================== Introduction: This is the best way to introduce yourself to the TunnelVISION System. The introduction starts you off in a tunnel similar to the one in 3D Ping Pong. By the time you're finished, you'll have warped through space like you will in Voyageur IV. In the tunnel, guides along the walls will help you with your depth perception. Hit the ball ten times, and you will enter space. Once in space, you'll be introduced to Voyageur IV and its targeting computer. Remember to line up the FRONT OF YOUR GUN with the CENTRE OF THE RED TARGET BOX, which will turn YELLOW when your aim is true. It's so easy, but if you don't read it somewhere you may not understand how to do it. Good for you for reading the documentation. Finally, try shooting down several asteroids without the targeting computer activated. If you can do this without any problems, you are more than ready for the actual game! Voyageur IV ============= The story so far: It is the end of July in the middle of the twenty-first century. Scientists in North America are eager to view another beautiful Perseid Meteor Shower in mid-August. However, astronomers have noticed some particularly large asteroids heading towards the Earth. Convinced this is not a natural phenomenon, a group of top scientists from all four corners of the world weigh the risks and decide to rush to complete a new technological wonder, the forth in the Voyageur series of space exploration vessels. In the preceding decade, what became known as a "hyperdrive" was developed by the top engineers and physicists on the planet. It was theoretically capable of reaching speeds close to that of light. However, it was neither tested, nor had a prototype been produced. Originally, the scientists had planned to build the hyperdrive engine into Voyageur IV to enable it to reach Alpha Centauri unmanned, obtain information about the system, and return home. It became their only hope to finish the building of the ship, equip it with lasers powerful enough to destroy an asteroid, and send it off into space with a human pilot on board. It would be that pilot's job to destroy the asteroids heading towards the Earth, and then activate the hyperdrive engine on board Voyageur IV to send the shuttle hurtling towards the source of the asteroid chunks, where it appears they are breaking off from a larger asteroid. There was no guarantee the pilot could destroy all of the hazardous asteroids. There was no guarantee the hyperdrive engine would not blow the ship and its pilot into a million tiny pieces. Put simply, there was no guarantee the pilot would ever return safely to Earth. You are that pilot. You have been selected from all humans as the one most likely to succeed on the mission. The Earth has one chance, and that is with you. You will either pilot Voyageur IV from Earth to the giant asteroid, destroy it and return, or all of the life of Earth will be destroyed. Come to think of it, you'll die as well. Days before the impending meteor shower, Voyageur IV is completed. You receive a final briefing, board the rocket and strap yourself in. The countdown begins. Controlling Voyageur IV: Moving the ship: Use the mouse to control the movement of the ship in all four directions. Operating the lasers: The left and right mouse buttons control your left and right lasers. Some targets require more than one shot to destroy, but that's no problem. Simply press and hold for rapid fire. Your ammunition is unlimited, so go crazy. There will be times, however, when this is not wise. Using the targeting computer - IMPORTANT: The targeting computer is easy to use and very accurate. It is designed to always target where an object will be when it reaches the tip (far end) of your gun. Therefore, to hit any object, all you need to do is place the front of one of your guns into the red box, and fire. If the box has turned yellow, it will be a sure hit. Of course, because the objects you encounter in space are not all square, just because your gun isn't inside the yellow target box doesn't mean you WON'T make your mark. It is important to realize that just because it LOOKS like you are hitting the bull's eye, you can't expect a target to be knocked out just because you fired and the laser seemed to pass through it. If you don't understand why, try playing the practice modes found off the main menu, especially, "Introduction." Wanna go? If you decide that you don't need Earth anymore and want to float aimlessly through space until your food supplies run out, press any key during play. You will be prompted with, "Exit to menu?"; I suppose, "Give up?" would be a more suitable question. Confirm your answer with the mouse, oh, but remember, all of us back on Earth are counting on you. No pressure. The Rules (or, "The way we play"): You start out Voyageur IV with three chances (or "lives"). Every time your ship (or the Earth, for that matter), gets turned into rubble, you lose one of your chances. With this system, you are given over twenty chances to complete the game (assuming you can make it to the ninth level). This makes the game well calibrated so you don't find yourself at the beginning of the game every time you fail - something I have always loathed in video games. Some stuff you might want to know: There are nine missions to complete in Voyageur IV. They are almost all distinctly different in their quest, and are (roughly) in increasing order of difficulty. Levels five and six, however, are especially tricky. From the "Options" menu, you can set the difficulty level of Voyageur IV. "SO Easy" is easier than I hoped people would play. I would recommend you play 3DWorld on "Normal" unless you really find it difficult. It's pointless to play "SO Easy" just to beat the game. It will be more satisfying on "Normal." If you can beat "Normal," try "Vicious." It lives up to its name. If you try to beat the game on Vicious FIRST, I respect you. Yes, there is a cool ending sequence if you beat the game. It gets increasingly elaborate as you play the more difficult skill levels. Only by playing "Vicious" will you see the final piece of the plot unfold. Goodbye, and good luck, Captain! 3D Ping Pong ============== Objective: Beat the computer in a game of Ping Pong! You can play to 5, 10 or 15 points. The number of points needed can be set in the "Options" menu, found off the main menu. The Rules: For those players who don't know with the rules of Ping Pong, here's a brief rundown. When you serve the ball, it must bounce first on your side of the net, then on your opponent's side. Following the serve, to keep the ball in play, each contender must hit the ball over the net so it bounces on their opponent's side of the net. If you hit the ball, and it flies right on past your opponent's side of the table without bouncing, your opponent scores, not you! Conversely, if your shot doesn't clear the net, and bounces on your side, your opponent scores. Special rules for 3D Ping Pong: In this version of Ping Pong, the server changes after each group of five points has been scored. In addition, the ball can be bounced off of walls that, on a normal table, would not exist! It doesn't matter when or how many times the ball rebounds off the side walls. In fact, it may be useful in your attempts to outsmart the computer if you DO knock the ball into the walls occasionally... Controlling the paddle: Serving the ball: When serving, first position the paddle using the mouse. Then, press and hold down the left button to deflect the ball to one side, or the right button to deflect to the other. If you hold the button down for a longer time, you will apply more force to the ball in a downward direction. Remember: the objective is to have the ball first bounce on your side of the net, then bounce on your opponent's side (and then hopefully sail right past his paddle!). During Play: Once the ball has been served, you can move the mouse to position the paddle to return the ball. Holding down either of the buttons angles your paddle, which lets you deflect the ball to either side. Holding down BOTH buttons simultaneously straightens out your paddle and causes the paddle to hit the ball with greater force. This is useful when you feel that a normal volley would not clear the net. Leaving so soon? Press any key during your game of Ping Pong to return to the main menu without finishing the game. You must confirm your decision with the mouse. Shareware notice and Registration information =============================================== 3DWorld is now yours for the low, low price of absolutely nothing. But, if you like this game, and you'd like me to continue to improve my skills and produce even BETTER games and applications to put out as Shareware, please remember to register your copy of 3DWorld. A mere $5 to $15 is all I'm asking (anything more would be awesome!). For your registration, you'll receive happiness and good karma, any new versions of 3DWorld and also a copy of a shareware release I plan to produce in the very near future. If you would like a personalized, registered version of 3DWorld, please send at least $10, and specify disk size and density. As you may know if you have completed this game, there is a distinct possibility that a sequel will be (or has been!) produced. I will be sure to send you a full, personalized copy of the sequel when and if I produce it. Remeber to be sure to include a return address! Please send any donations or comments to: Robert Burke 221 Carlton Road Unionville, Ontario L3R 3M2 (Canada) As valuable as your money to me now is your feedback. A message is worth, well, not a thousand dollars, but it makes the hundreds of hours involved in producing the game worth my effort. You can contact me on almost any major Toronto or Simcoe area (Ontario) BBS, including: In Toronto: Enigma: (905)727-8080 In Penetang area: Huronia Dynamo: (705)322-0649 Fido: 1:252/402 3DWorld may be freely distributed providing it is complete and unmodified. Thanks, Robert Burke Revision History ================== v1.2 released February 15, 1994 First update. TappBase v3.0 implemented. Graphics smoother and faster. Removed "Target Shoot". Voyageur's targetting system improved. Minor bugs fixed. v1.0 released September 20, 1993 Original edition. Implemented original TunnelVISION system. Used TAppBase v1.1 for rather large menu system. Had a silly "Target Shoot" game along with the "Introduction". Was published on a Shareware CD! Very Large Extra Special Credits and Thanks Section v1.2 ========================================================== This time, I owe my thanks to the meticulous players and beta-testers at Saint Andrew's College in Aurora. With your help, I've eliminated all of the major bugs and flaws in the game, taken out all of those "annoying" things you've been nagging about, and made the game truly impressive. There are a few of you in specific that I have to thank. The 3DWorld icon, created by Alex Berkovsky, was added at the last minute to the 3DWorld package. I never got around to thanking you for it, Alex, so here's my belated thanks for that very cool contribution. Next, I would like to thank all of you at SAC who registered the game. You don't know how much a simple thing like that means to me. To use that cliche, it really is "the thought that counts" - and it counts a lot. I'll have registered copies of v1.2 for you as soon as I get the disk labels printed out...! :) And now for something completely different... It is my honour to present to Erik Hedges the MVP award for First Ping Pong. After countless hours of practice, and an incredible 15-0 blowout (after the bug fix %^) ), he has truly earned this prize. Incredibly, I find that Erik knows more about my game that I do... that's scary. As an award, Erik will be presented with a trip to... oops, wrong script... a registered copy of Version 1.2. Maybe I'll do a 3D Squash next. And, thanks again to Mr. Greg Dominato, for bailing me out just when I was about to give up. I'm beginning to wonder how I'd ever be able to survive without you helping me fix up my code! Ten thousand lines, and I only had to change two of them. So, fellow programmers, the moral is this: if you have a class whose functions exceed 64K, declare it as a POINTER, then use the "new" operator. Deep. Very Large Extra Special Credits and Thanks Section v1.0 ========================================================== (This was so classic I just couldn't take it out. As you can see, "ecstatic" was an understatement for how I felt when I released v1.0 on time back in September, 1993.) 3DWorld was produced so quickly and in such style because I have had the help of several exceptionally distinguished and talented people. I sincerely hope I have remembered to thank all of you. First, my thanks goes to Mike Young, who not only gave me support, but also a great deal of time and effort. Without you, the digitized graphics included in the game wouldn't be nearly as good; in fact, they may never have been included at all. I also owe a great debt to you for being my first beta tester and for pointing out some rather silly errors (like the one that let you see the conclusion before you saw the intro!). Thanks for giving so much so unselfishly. Call me when the phone bill comes in... :) I also especially want to thank my sister Elizabeth, for her many suggestions and valuable input. Thanks for compelling me to keep making it better, because in the end it was not only worth it, but it made the game! Just to hear optimistic comments every time I added a new feature was enough to keep me going through even the worst problems. Thanks also goes to the rest of my family, for everything you do for me (that's an awful lot to say in a sentance), but especially for your suggestions and encouragement regarding the game. I don't want this text file to get too mushy, so I'll thank you personally and move on. However, before I do so, special thanks much go to Mom for saving me at the last minute, allowing me to meet my "deadline". Another extra special "thankyou" goes to Josh Ginou, for giving me his time and teaching me some very useful concepts that I employed in the game, especially the colour toning and animated image manipulation. As you might have guessed, I've got lots of really neat tricks to teach you now! Long live Robonian Baseball! Thanks goes to Geoff Armstrong, who was the first person to see the finished game in action, and a great beta tester. Thanks for your time and support, and for appreciating what I've been through to get here, something nobody else quite seems to realize. Come to think of it, you're the only one to ever see all my major projects in action! Yet more thanks goes out to my team of evaluators and beta testers from SAC. There are too many of you to mention, and you have truly helped me. I would like to especially thank Alex Berkovsky for his support and suggestions, the "propaganda", the staples, and for helping my advertising campaign; but most importantly for convincing me that enough was enough, and it was time to release it! Thanks, too, to Simon Hall and Josh Ginou (again!), for evaluating the final beta and for giving me the advice that put the icing on the cake. And last, but most certainly not least, I can't forget to thank my counselor and guide, guru of programming, Mr. Greg Dominato. It is your routines that power the digitized image section of my code. Thanks for your advice, time, and willingness to share your in-depth knowledge of C and C++. All systems operating within specified parameters, Captain. I hope I've thanked everyone that needed thanking, although I expect I've forgotten someone. So to everyone else who helped me along the way, THANKS. That's about it. Enjoy 3DWorld, distribute it unaltered, pass it around, and talk about it at parties. A final "Hi" to the guys at SAC, and I'll end off this verbose document. Party on! Robert Burke 221 Carlton Road Unionville, Ontario L3R 3M2 (Canada) "My brain hurts!"